Jill Cunningham’s commentary (Gazette, Feb. 18) on society’s preoccupation with consumption is well written and thought provoking. Such ideas are important and should be promoted in academia and even our schools, provided the complete story of how communities balance their consumption with an array of environmental protections, are included in the discussion. We can debate materialism and “how much is enough” within our society, but such discussion is entirely philosophical in nature and is not at all helpful in business, nor in science.
It seems that Jill’s quality of life is enhanced by having others pay for her self-esteem. I’m sorry but paying for bad ideas (like a carbon tax) does as little for my self-esteem as token Alberta energy reductions could ever do for affecting man caused global warming, (if indeed that even exists – as it’s now been 19 successive years that all the AGW Models, have been wrong).
To move Rachel Notley and Justin Trudeau’s “feel good” ideology into the business world, through taxation into a global marketplace is not only inappropriate (comparing apples with oranges), but it is also dangerous to Alberta’s oil and gas industry, in terms eroding our global competitive advantages. This is big business with very big players and huge stakes in terms of federal and provincial employment, taxation, schools, hospitals and ultimately the standard of living we enjoy as Albertans. Let us not, especially in such critical industries, be persuaded by matters of the heart. Our competitors in other producing nations – Venezuela, the United States, and the OPEC nations – are not even having such discussion. They leave that to the Europeans, who insist upon “beating themselves up”, at every possible opportunity.
Bill Rugg, St. Albert
